Switch-operating means.



W. J. & O. J. WILLIAMS.

'SWITCH OPERATING MEANS. l APPLICATION r1LBDsBPT.1,19os.

9 1 6, 841 7 Patented Mar.l 30, 1909.

T 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

W. J. & 0. J. WILLIAMS. SWITCH OPERATING MEANS. A PPLIOATION FILED SEPT.1,'1908.

Patented Mar. 30, 1909.

-z SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Ctr

f main track.

UNITED STA iS PATENE 11i-@FICE j WALTER `l. WILLIAMS AND OSCAR J.WILLIAMS, OF PITTSFIELD, ILLINOIS.

SW ITCH-OPERATING ME ANS.

T 0 all Awho-m it may concern: l Be it known that we, WALTER J WiLLrrrnsj and OscAnJ-WrLLrArrs, citizens of the United States, residing atPittsfield, in the county of Pike and State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Switcli-0perating Means, of whichthe following'is a specilication. j

The present invention relates to improvel ments in railroad switches andthe object of j the invention is the provision of a device of thischaracter embodying a novel construction whereby the switch can bethrown into an open or a closed position from a moving car without thenecessity of stopping the car and dismounting therefrom.

The invention further contemplates a switch mechanism which is durableand inexpensive in its construction and which will admit of a carrunning through the switch in either direction.

`ldor a 'full understanding of the invention and the merits thereof andalso to acquire a l knowledge of the details of construction and j themeans for effecting the result, reference is accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a switch provided with a switch operatingmechanism embodying the invention, Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinalsectional view through the same showing the switch in the act of beingoperated by a car,Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation'of the baselocated between the rails of j the track looking at the same from theoppo- 1 site side to that shown in Fig.y 2, Fig. L't is a i horizontalsectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, 1Eig. 5 is an end view of acar showing the trip member mounted thereon, and, Fig. 6 j is anenlarged detail perspective view of the i cam member.

.Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated j in all the views of the drawings by the samej reference characters. l,

Referring to the drawing the numeral 1 l, designates the main track, 2the branch l track, and 3 the switch point which operates i in the usualmanner between one of the rails of the main track and a guard rail 4.'ihis switch point 3 is connected by a switch bar 5 to one end of alever 6 which is pivotally mounted between its ends upon a block 7 andis disposed longitudinally with respect to the The opposite end of thislever 6 carries a roller 8 which is designed to be envto be had to thefollowing description and j Specification of Letters Patent. Applicationfiled September 1, 1908.

cular disk 11 which is rigid with Patented March 30, 1909.

Serial No. 451,204.

gaged by a cam member 9 to swing the lever' and throw the switch pointinto an Vopen position, the said switch point being normally held in aclosed position by means of a spring 10.

The cam 9 projects from one side of a cira horizontal shaft 12 journaledin a base 13 located be tween the rails of the main track. Rigid withthis shaft 12 upon. the opposite side of the base, is a segmental plate141 one of the ends of which is provided with a radially extendingtongue 15 while the opposite end is connected to a spring 16 whichnormally tends to turn the segmental plate and move the disk 11 so as tohold the earn 9 out of engagement with the roller 3. When in thisposition, the tongue 15 is moved downwardly and projects within thecontracted end of a guide groove 17 formed in an extension ofthe base13, the opposite end ofthe guide groove being lared. When the tongue 15is swung upwardly, the segmental plate 14 and disk 11 are moved againstthe action of the spring '16 and the cam 9 is caused to engage theroller 3 and move the lever 6 to throw the switch point from a closed toan open position. For the purpose of holding the switch point in suchposition until the rolling stock shall have passed from the main trackupon the branch track, a detent 18 is provided which engages a notch 19in the edge of the segmental plate 14. This detent 18 is Vformed with anextension 18a which projects beyond the pivot point thereof and isengaged by a spring 20 which normally tends to throw the detent in anoperative position. It will also be ob served that the extension isconnected by a rod 21 to a releasing lever which extends upwardly alongone side of the segmental plate and has its lower end pivoted to thebase 13 at 22. This releasing lever is formed of a lower' section 23' towhich the rod 21 is connected and an upper section 23h which is hingedto the lower section and provided with an extension 2d adapted to engagethe said lower section to limit the swinging move-- ment of the uppersection and prevent it from being swung beyond a position in alinementtherewith. Then the segmental plate is turned as previously described toopen the switch, a projection 25 upon one side thereof engages thesection 23b of the releasing lever and moves it into alinement with thesection 23a of the releasing lever, the detent 18 their entering thenotch 19 to hold the segmental plate against backward movement. lVhen.the upper section 23b of the releasing lever has thus been swun upwardlyinto alinement with the lower section 23a it projects upwardly above thetongue 15 into the path of a trip member 26 upon the rear end of the carand after the wheels of the car have been guided upon the branch track,this trip niernber engages the releasing lever and moves the same so asto pull upon the rod 21 and move l the detent 18 out of the notch 1 rihel 1 l l 1 trip rod is moved downwardly to the lower end of the slots, itwill engage the upper end I 23b of the releasing lever, while when it ismoved to the upper end of the slots it is in an inoperative position andwill pass over the releasing' lever. Swinging plates 38 which arepivoted uoon the hangers 37, are utilized for holding the tri rod 23 inan inoperative position, the sai plates being provided with the notches3Sffor engaging the rod and holding it at the upper end of the slots. 1twill thus be apparent that the switch can be set from the car to guidethe car upon the branch track if desired and that the switch may eitherbe left in this position or moved back to its original position; Shoulda car be traveling in the opposite direction upon the branch track itwill be en tirely obvious that the pressure of the wheel flanges againstthe switch point would move the same against the action of the spring 10and permit the car to move from the branch track to the main trackwithout the necessity of setting the switch.

aving thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. The combination of a main track, a branch track, a switch point, abase, a plate pivoted upon the base and having an operative connectionwith the switch point, means adapted to be operated from the rollingstock to move the plate to throw the switch spring 16 then moves thesegmental plate back to its original position and the spring l0 movesthe switch point back to a closed position. Aft-er the trip member 26slips over the upper end of the releasing lever, the latter is swungbackwardly for a short distance by the spring 20 of the detent 18, theupper section 23b of the Y releasing lever gaining a sufficient momentumto swing it downwardly into a substantially horizontal position liushwith the top of the base 13.

ln the present instance, a car 27 is shown as mounted to travel upon thetrack, and pendent from the platform of this car, is a switch operatingbar 28. The upper end of this bar passes through the platform of the carand is pivotally connected to the car at 29. The bar itself is normallyinclined rearwardly so that the lower end thereof is elel vated into aninoperative position and for the purpose of holding it in such positionthe pivot end thereof is formed with an arm 30 the extremity of which isdesigned to engage a notch or depression 31 in a foot lever 3,2. Thisfoot lever 32 is pivotally mounted at an intermediate point between theears 33 and the opposite end thereof to that pro- -vided with thedepression 31 and is normally forced upwardly by a spring 34 so as tohold the depression in engagement with the arm 30v of the bar. l/Vhen itis desired to open the switch and cause the car to travel upon thebranch track, the upwardlyT spring pressed end of the foot lever 32 isforced downwardly Vand the toot lever thereb r moved to release the arm30 from the depression 31. The lower end of the switch operating bar 28then drops into the guide groove 17 and as the car advances, the loop 35in the end of the switch operating ban-engages the tongue 15V and swingsthe same upwardly so as to turn thel segmental plate and open the switchas heretofore described. After the wheels of the car have been guidedupon the branch track, the trip member 26 at the rear end of the car ifset in an operative position, will l engage the releasing lever anddisengage the ,l detent 18 from the notch 19, thereby causing l theswitch point to be moved back into a closed position. This trip member26 as shown on the drawing, is in the form of a l horizontal bar theends of which are loosely Il l backwardmovement, and a eleasing leverformed in hinged sections, one of the sections being pivoted to the baseand having an operative connection with the detent, while the oppositesection normally assumes an inoperativeV position but is swung into anoperative position when the plate is moved to throw the switch point.

2. The combination of a main track, a branch track, a switch point, alever having an operative connection with the switch point, a cam formoving the lever to throw the switch point, means for holding the switchpoint in the position to which it has been thrown until the rollingstock has passed, and means for automatically mov ing the switch back toits original position after the rollin stock has passed.

3. The com Y branch track, a switch point, a lever having an operativeconnection with the switch point, a disk rovided with a cam adapted toengage the ever to swing the same and throw the switch point, a platerigid with the disk, means for swinging the plate, a detent forpreventing backward movement of the plate after it has been swung tothrow the switch, a releasing leverformed in hinged sections, connectingmeans between one of the sections ot' the releasing lever and thedetent, and means for engaging the opposite 3 section of the releasinglever to swing the received within vertical slots 36 inV hangers 37 uponopposite sides of the car. When the ination of a main track, a

point, a detent for holding the plate against Y releasing lever anddisengage the detent from the plate.

4. The combination of a main track, a branch track, a switch oint, alever pivoted between its ends and raving an operative connection at oneend with the switch point, a base, a disk journaled upon the base andformed with a cam adapted to engage the free end of the lever to swingthe same and throw the switch point, a segmental plate rigid with thedisk, means for turning the segmental plate to throw the switch point, apawl for holding the segmental plate against backward movement after theswitch oint has been thrown, a releasing lever ormed of hinged sections,the outer section being provided with means wherebyT it cannot be swunginto a position beyond that in alinement with the inner section,connecting means between the inner section of the releasing lever andthe pawl, a projection upon the segmental plate for engaging the outersection of the releasing lever to move it in alinement with the innersection when the switch is thrown, and means for engaging the outersection of the releasing lever and moving the lever to disengage thedetent from the plate after the car has passed the switch.

5. The combination of a main track, a branch track, a switch point, abase, a plate pivoted upon the base, an operative connection between theplate and the switch point, means for turning the plate to throw theswitch point, a detent for holding the plate against backward movementafter the switch point has been thrown, a releasing lever having anoperative connection with the detent, and means upon the rolling stock'for engaging the releasing lever for moving the same and disengagingthe detent from the plate.

6. The combination of a main track, a branch track, a switch point, abase, a plate pivoted upon the base and having an operative connectionwith the switch point, means for moving the plate to throw the switchpoint, a detent for holding the plate against backward movement, areleasing lever having an operative connection with the detent, and atrip bar mounted upon the rolling stock and adapted to be moved eitherinto an operative or inoperative position, the said trip bar when movedinto an operative osition being adapted to engage the releasing leverand move the detent out of engagement with the plate.

ln testimony whereof we a'Hix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

WALTER J. WLLIAMS. OSCAR J. WILLIAMS.

[L. s.] [L. s.]

